Masquerade - Ch 10
Title: Masquerade - Chapter 10
Pairing: Sam/Janet
Rating: adult
Summary: SG-1 make the horrifying discovery that Janet Fraiser has been host to a Goa’uld for the past three years.
This chapter: Daniel makes a promise to Vala and Shu takes SG-1 to meet the Rebels.
What happened in the dining hall was exactly what Cam feared the most. He was prepared, every fibre of his being, the moment that fucking beam touched Vala, to launched across the table and break the Goa’uld’s fucking hand off.
Only it wasn’t just Nephthys he had to concern himself about. Anything he did to her, he did to Janet Fraiser. It would have been stupid, to say the least. There were priests everywhere. He didn’t know what kind of firepower they had.
He had never felt more useless in his life. His skin crawled, his guts churned, and sharp metal things scratching the inside of his skull. Vala was right in front of him. Just an arm’s reach across the table.
He didn’t even tell Nephthys to let her go. He hadn’t said a word. In every sense he had failed as their leader. If they couldn’t put their faith and their trust in him, then he had no right being among them at all.
When he thought of what might have happened if Sam hadn’t spoken up, his throat convulsed in sickness. Logically, if Nephthys had used the hand device on Vala, the treaty would be void. Logically, Nephthys wanted the safety of the treaty so they had no way of rescuing Dr Fraiser.
Right now, logic was a make-believe thing, a luxury Cam denied himself. He was unfit to be the leader of SG-1. He hadn’t listened to Vala when she told him how dangerous Nephthys was. He had completely ignored a member of his team when she came to him with important information.
“Does something trouble you, Cameron Mitchell?”
Cam looked up from his knees to see Teal’c standing in the doorway to his room.
“Oh. No, Teal’c, I’m coming. Sorry.” Cam stood up from the bed, turning distractedly. Teal’c stepped into the room.
“There was nothing you could have done any differently, today.”
Cam met his unflinching gaze incredulously. Eventually his shoulders sagged and a breath rushed from his lungs. “So why can I think of a million different ways I could have handled it?”
“The actions you could have taken would be infinite. The results, surely, would all have been the same. You were right to take no action at all.”
Cam laughed mirthlessly. “Sam...At least she said something.”
Teal’c looked more grave, and almost scared. It was not the reaction Cam had expected and it gave him pause.
Teal’c’s eyes shifted as though he saw terrible things. “Janet Fraiser knows that Samantha Carter cannot sit idly by while someone she cares for suffers before her eyes. Nephthys would know this as well. If Nephthys wished us to be the first to violate the terms of the Asgard treaty that protect us, there would be no easier way than through Colonel Carter.”
Teal’c would never say anything like that so lightly. Cam knew there were few people Teal’c respected more than Sam and Daniel, and the pain in his voice was clear.
“How can you...?” Cam stammered.
The Jaffa did not face him. He stood with hands clasped at his back, and his spine bowed sombrely. “Ten years ago, a Goa’uld called Nirrti decimated the entire population of a planet visited by SG-1. She left only one survivor, a young girl named Cassandra. But she had placed within the girl a bomb capable of destroying much of Earth’s population.”
Cam nodded. “Yeah, I uhh...I read the file.”
“Then you will know that Colonel Carter disobeyed direct orders and stayed with Cassandra when the bomb was due to detonate.”
Cam sighed, conceding.
“She interfered with the ritual sacrifice on Ombos because she could not bear to allow it to happen. She has always been like this.” Teal’c turned and stared directly into Cam’s eyes. “We follow your lead, Cameron Mitchell. You did not act today. Samantha Carter did. She put all of us at risk doing so. At the very least she risked our chances at these negotiations for Earth’s defences. Nephthys still has the right to order the Asgard to remove us even without provocation.”
The Jaffa spoke almost furiously. He was also right. Nephthys could have easily decided to punish Sam for her outburst by denying them the hope of acquiring a ZPM, even the hope of somehow rescuing Dr Fraiser.
Cam slumped. Teal’c knew Sam and Daniel inside out. Cam was lucky for it. He slapped his hand on Teal’c’s shoulder and held it gratefully. The Jaffa had obviously come to him with this concern in the first place. Cam needed to listen. He needed to be a better leader.
“Thanks,” he said.
Teal’c bowed.
“Lets...cut Sam some slack,” Cam went on, realizing he had to cut himself some slack as well. Teal’c also appeared grateful for Cam’s leniency. It was no secret he cared deeply for Sam. The man hated to see her used. Hated to see the beautiful qualities that made her so special used against her, against all of them.
“Is everyone ready?” Cam asked.
“All but Daniel Jackson await in the main chamber,” reported Teal’c.
“Alright. I’ll go get him.”
Daniel was sitting on his bed, the tablet propped on his thighs. The light from the screen glowed in his lenses.
Cam held onto the doorframe and suspended himself into the room. “Hey.”
Daniel looked up. “Hey.”
Cam released the doorframe and swung inside like a floppy marionette. “You coming?”
“Nah. Gonna try and...” Daniel pursed his lips together, smiling humourlessly. “Yep.”
“Right. Look, I uhh...I wanted to ask you something.”
Daniel sat up on the bed and lowered his knees. “What is it?”
Cam pressed his fingertips together. “Do you think it’s possible? That Nephthys can turn Vala back into Qetesh even without...Qetesh?”
“Ah,” Daniel said, removing his glasses and hoisting his legs over the bed. He set the tablet aside and folded his glasses beside it. “That, I must admit, I am not entirely qualified to answer. Basically it comes down to what we know of self consciousness and self awareness.”
Cam detected a lecture coming on and suddenly regretted asking. Just a little.
“Philosophers have tried to determine what it is that we call our ‘self’ and how it forms. When a symbiote, Goa’uld or Tok’ra blend with a human host they cannot help but share with each other all that makes them who they are. David Hume proposed that the self is merely made up of our perceptions, what we experience. In that sense, Qetesh is still a complete identity within Vala. It’s a bit like having multiple personalities, only Vala herself never provided Qetesh with consciousness. That was the symbiote.”
Cam rubbed the back of his neck and then clapped. “Let’s pretend I followed half of what you said. What do you think Nephthys was going to do to Vala back there at the dining table?”
“Well, if a Goa’uld’s memories, feelings, thought patterns, everything that formed her identity really does remain in the host even after the symbiote is removed, perhaps Nephthys believes it’s possible to force Vala’s consciousness to draw from the identity of Qetesh rather than the memories of Vala. Kind of like...changing train lines. Initially the train of thought runs on a track through Vala’s collective experiences. If Nephthys could find a way to flip the switch so the lines changed, the train would cross over into the collective experience of Qetesh and run through her identity.”
Cam shut his eyes, struggling to keep up. There was really only one thing he wanted to know. “Has it ever happened before? Has a former host ever reverted to their Goa’uld identity without the influence of the symbiote?”
Daniel didn’t answer. When Cam opened his eyes he saw Vala standing in the doorway and mentally kicked himself.
“Is it possible, Daniel?” Vala asked, tapping her nails together. “Can she do it? Can she...make it so I’m...no longer me?”
Daniel stood and walked over to her. He sighed. “Honestly...I don’t know.”
Vala flinched and backed away anxiously.
“But!” Daniel held up his hands preventatively. The problem was he hadn’t exactly prepared what he was going to say. Vala’s dark ocean eyes were wide open with hope and Cam shifted uncomfortably in the time Daniel desperately searched for something reassuring to say.
“Look at it this way,” he said finally. “Without the influence of the Symbiote’s consciousness, even if Nephthys did somehow...activate Qetesh as the dominant personality, it couldn’t be stable. You are more than just a collection of memories. You are more than just the residual effects of an invading mind.” Daniel held her shoulders. “You are stronger because you are complete. Mind. Body. Soul. Qetesh? She’s just some...leftover scraps.”
Vala sniffed and a smile bloomed fleetingly across her lips. “If she does-”
“She won’t.”
“Daniel. If Nephthys brings out Qetesh in me...Don’t let me hurt anyone.”
“It won’t happen.”
Vala threw down her fists defiantly. “Daniel. Please.”
“Vala...”
“Promise me.”
Daniel lifted his hands and held her cheeks, brushing his thumbs gently beneath her eyes. “I will bring you back. That, I promise.”
The streets bustled with activity, the sandstone city shining under an overhead sun. Children ran around them and between them, laughing and chasing. Daniel was right. These people were still thriving, and they seemed relatively free.
It made Cam uneasy. There was something else going on here. Maybe it was a different story outside the city walls. He would make sure to find out from the rebels.
Once the palace was obscured from sight, Shu spoke to Cam. “We have acquired one of the mining vessels. We are able to take you and your friends to the Camp, but we must leave now.”
“Uh, that might be a problem,” Cam said, as they turned into a narrow market street. “Daniel’s not with us. Also, we don’t know when Nephthys is going to call us in for negotiations.”
“Not until late this evening. I heard her speak with another priest.”
The stall owners shouted their wares, peddling trinkets and curios. Sam gently urged Vala along, keeping her from lingering too long at anything shiny.
“Okay, then I still have one more problem,” Cam said, “No doubt you rebels will have weapons. I’d feel a lot better if we had ours back before we met.”
“I can give you zat’nik’tels onboard the mining vessel. We must leave now. It is scheduled to depart very soon,” Shu said. His sharp gestures compounded the urgency in his voice.
“Alright, alright.” Cam turned to the others. “Guys. Shu says we gotta go meet these rebels now or never.”
“What about Daniel?” Vala asked.
“Hopefully we’ll be back before anyone notices we’re missing. And Nephthys can’t touch him, remember? Well...can’t hurt him anyway.”
“Alright. I guess we have to go,” Sam shrugged.
Cam turned back to Shu and held out his arm. “Lead the way.”
“The Station is this way,” said Shu.
The mining vessel turned out to be a Tel’tak. In spite of what appeared to Cam to be heavy security, they all but waltzed onboard in the middle of a busy shipyard. The ship took them up out of the city, and across endless desert.
Peppered across the sand, in between forests of stone and twisted rock, were decrepit camps. Cam looked out the window in disgust. “This is more what we’re used to,” he said grimly.
“You are starting to get a more complete picture of the trouble our people are in,” Shu said sadly. “Before Nephthys came, our people were prosperous. We used these ships freely. Now they are used to transport naquadah for our ‘god’. The city you have seen...it was once open to us. Under the rule of Nephthys...” Shu stared distantly at the tumbling dunes that rolled beneath them.
“Look,” said Cam, “We’re going to help you. But you gotta understand, we need Nephthys alive.”
Shu sighed and nodded. “There. Our headquarters.”
They approached a large brick and metal factory. It would not have looked out of place on Langara. Sam half expected Jonas Quinn to greet them when they landed. She thought of his perpetually friendly smile and wondered how the kid was doing since they last saw him.
The Tal’tek came to rest on the sandy grounds outside the factory. Fingers twitching by the zats on their belts, SG-1 disembarked from the ship and followed Shu across the grounds. It was when Teal’c pointed out some familiar two-wheeled vehicles that Cam’s blood pressure elevated.
“The people who killed us outside the city. They were riding those,” Sam said. The vehicles were lined up along the outside wall of the factory.
“Hey, Shu. What’s that about? Huh? You neglected to tell us the guys that shot us were your guys,” Cam said, bringing the group to a stop.
Shu turned, nodding. “Yes. I was afraid you would not trust me if I told you. When you first arrived, you looked strange to them. You appeared from nowhere. They assumed you must have been working with Nephthys. Rest assured I have told them you do not.”
“Gonna need a little more than that to reassure me,” Cam said, warily.
“Please,” Shu implored. He rubbed his short dark hair and held his arms open. “I’ve brought you here at great risk. If it will put you at ease I will go in and ask our leader to come out and meet you alone.”
Cam considered his offer. He was sure Teal’c or Sam or Vala could fly the Tal’tek if they needed to leave in a hurry. And four zats against one man was certainly a lot better than entering the hideout of a bunch of guys who riddled them with bullets only yesterday.
“Okay. Go get him. We’ll wait here.”
Shu smiled and bounced enthusiastically. “Great. I’ll go get him!”
The boy hurried off, throwing open the heavy factory doors and propelling himself inside.
“I’m not the only one with a bad feeling, right?” Cam asked the others.
“You kidding? I felt more comfortable at the palace,” Vala said, swinging her zat and sticking a hand on her slanted hip.
With a rusty creak the factory doors swung open again and an unfamiliar man in tightly wound cloths and handmade armour buckled over his chest walked across the sand towards them.
“SG-1. Welcome.”
“You must be the leader of the rebels,” Cam said.
“Runihura. You are Cam. Shu has told me all about you. All of you. You oppose the rule of Nephthys. That makes us allies.”
He wasn’t an overly tall man but he was broad shouldered and gruff, with wild, unkempt hair. Cam looked him over for any weapons he might be concealing.
“We’ve mined enough naquadah to blow up several key locations within the city. The palace can be taken easily in the confusion,” Runihura declared proudly.
“Yeah, about that,” said Cam, “We would appreciate it if when you took the palace, you didn’t kill Nephthys.”
Runihura’s smile faltered. “I don’t understand.
“You’re right that she isn’t a god. There’s another living creature living inside her, controlling her. We want to try and remove that creature,” Cam explained.
“The woman you can see, she’s innocent,” Sam said, “She isn’t the one committing these crimes against your people. She needs to be saved.”
Runihura looked between the two Colonels. “You want to save Nephthys?”
“No! No, no,” Vala said quickly. “Not Nephthys, just the woman she has taken control of.”
Runihura frowned and folded his arms. His eyes narrowed, and thoughtful lines drew across his brow. Cam exchanged an anxious look with Sam. Teal’c tapped the zat hanging from his belt. Finally the man looked up.
“This is a trick.”
Cam’s heart sank. “No. It’s not a trick. We’re willing to help you, we just need to save our friend.”
“Nephthys is your friend?” The rebel leader’s voice nearly shook.
“Look, if you just helped us capture her, we could show you what we mean. We could invite the Tok’ra here to remove the creature from her head,” Sam insisted desperately.
“Tok...ra?” They were losing him. The man was hissing angrily. Cam felt himself holding the zat at his belt.
“Yep. We’re dead. Again,” Vala muttered.
“Nephthys must die,” Runihura growled.
“No!” Cam said, wincing when Runihura twitched at his outburst. “Listen. Please, listen.”
The rebel leader faced him, scathingly, but patiently. Cam’s heart was thunder in his chest. There was no doubt that this was the last argument he would be permitted to make for Janet’s life. Everything hung on the balance of his next words.
“The woman you think is Nephthys is just an ordinary human being, like you and me. There is a small, snake-like creature that has burrowed its way into her head through the back of the neck. It’s controlling her. That creature is Nephthys. We will help you destroy her but you have to let us remove her from our friend.”
Runihura’s eyes were dark slits on his windburnt face, like black coal buried in the sand. “I believe you.”
Cam breathed a sigh of relief.
“But it will be hard for me to convince all of my people that such a creature is responsible for all their suffering. They will not believe that this friend of yours is not Nephthys.” Runihura held up his hand.
Cam’s heart stopped. Rising like pale spikes on top of the factory were men, holding weapons. He was foolish to think they’d ever had any advantage.
“A victory without proof of her demise will mean nothing,” Runihura said, as more men in rags and improvised armour came out from the factory. Shu was among them, evading his gaze. “If your ultimate goal is to prevent us from killing Nephthys then I am glad you are assembled here. Lock them up. And separate them. I don’t want them able to work together to conceive any escape before we can execute our plan.”
Cam felt the zat taken from him. He expected to feel the shock of the weapon sizzle over his body, but instead his wrists were cuffed behind him.
“No. Please. Don’t do this,” Sam begged, as they were forced towards the factory. “Please! You’re killing an innocent woman! Please!”
“Runihura. There was another with them, but he stayed behind at the palace,” Shu said to the leader.
“He will not matter.”
“Cam has a communication device in his pouch,” Shu added. Cam rolled his head backwards in disappointment, cursing silently as the pouch was whipped open and the radio removed.
Sam suddenly stamped her boot on her captor’s knee. The leg snapped inwards with a sickening crunch. The rebel fell, shrieking continuously in pain as Sam broke free.
“Sam! No!” Cam cried.
He went cold, waiting for the crack of gunfire from the factory rooftop. To his relief Sam was easily apprehended and tugged away kicking, crying, her frantic, mournful pleas falling on uncaring deaf ears. Cam didn’t hear her stop until the small cell door closed on him and he was alone to regret everything that had happened.
He’d really screwed this up. Maybe it would have been better to tell Nephthys about the plan against her. At least then Janet Fraiser wouldn’t be in danger.
Pairing: Sam/Janet
Rating: adult
Summary: SG-1 make the horrifying discovery that Janet Fraiser has been host to a Goa’uld for the past three years.
This chapter: Daniel makes a promise to Vala and Shu takes SG-1 to meet the Rebels.
What happened in the dining hall was exactly what Cam feared the most. He was prepared, every fibre of his being, the moment that fucking beam touched Vala, to launched across the table and break the Goa’uld’s fucking hand off.
Only it wasn’t just Nephthys he had to concern himself about. Anything he did to her, he did to Janet Fraiser. It would have been stupid, to say the least. There were priests everywhere. He didn’t know what kind of firepower they had.
He had never felt more useless in his life. His skin crawled, his guts churned, and sharp metal things scratching the inside of his skull. Vala was right in front of him. Just an arm’s reach across the table.
He didn’t even tell Nephthys to let her go. He hadn’t said a word. In every sense he had failed as their leader. If they couldn’t put their faith and their trust in him, then he had no right being among them at all.
When he thought of what might have happened if Sam hadn’t spoken up, his throat convulsed in sickness. Logically, if Nephthys had used the hand device on Vala, the treaty would be void. Logically, Nephthys wanted the safety of the treaty so they had no way of rescuing Dr Fraiser.
Right now, logic was a make-believe thing, a luxury Cam denied himself. He was unfit to be the leader of SG-1. He hadn’t listened to Vala when she told him how dangerous Nephthys was. He had completely ignored a member of his team when she came to him with important information.
“Does something trouble you, Cameron Mitchell?”
Cam looked up from his knees to see Teal’c standing in the doorway to his room.
“Oh. No, Teal’c, I’m coming. Sorry.” Cam stood up from the bed, turning distractedly. Teal’c stepped into the room.
“There was nothing you could have done any differently, today.”
Cam met his unflinching gaze incredulously. Eventually his shoulders sagged and a breath rushed from his lungs. “So why can I think of a million different ways I could have handled it?”
“The actions you could have taken would be infinite. The results, surely, would all have been the same. You were right to take no action at all.”
Cam laughed mirthlessly. “Sam...At least she said something.”
Teal’c looked more grave, and almost scared. It was not the reaction Cam had expected and it gave him pause.
Teal’c’s eyes shifted as though he saw terrible things. “Janet Fraiser knows that Samantha Carter cannot sit idly by while someone she cares for suffers before her eyes. Nephthys would know this as well. If Nephthys wished us to be the first to violate the terms of the Asgard treaty that protect us, there would be no easier way than through Colonel Carter.”
Teal’c would never say anything like that so lightly. Cam knew there were few people Teal’c respected more than Sam and Daniel, and the pain in his voice was clear.
“How can you...?” Cam stammered.
The Jaffa did not face him. He stood with hands clasped at his back, and his spine bowed sombrely. “Ten years ago, a Goa’uld called Nirrti decimated the entire population of a planet visited by SG-1. She left only one survivor, a young girl named Cassandra. But she had placed within the girl a bomb capable of destroying much of Earth’s population.”
Cam nodded. “Yeah, I uhh...I read the file.”
“Then you will know that Colonel Carter disobeyed direct orders and stayed with Cassandra when the bomb was due to detonate.”
Cam sighed, conceding.
“She interfered with the ritual sacrifice on Ombos because she could not bear to allow it to happen. She has always been like this.” Teal’c turned and stared directly into Cam’s eyes. “We follow your lead, Cameron Mitchell. You did not act today. Samantha Carter did. She put all of us at risk doing so. At the very least she risked our chances at these negotiations for Earth’s defences. Nephthys still has the right to order the Asgard to remove us even without provocation.”
The Jaffa spoke almost furiously. He was also right. Nephthys could have easily decided to punish Sam for her outburst by denying them the hope of acquiring a ZPM, even the hope of somehow rescuing Dr Fraiser.
Cam slumped. Teal’c knew Sam and Daniel inside out. Cam was lucky for it. He slapped his hand on Teal’c’s shoulder and held it gratefully. The Jaffa had obviously come to him with this concern in the first place. Cam needed to listen. He needed to be a better leader.
“Thanks,” he said.
Teal’c bowed.
“Lets...cut Sam some slack,” Cam went on, realizing he had to cut himself some slack as well. Teal’c also appeared grateful for Cam’s leniency. It was no secret he cared deeply for Sam. The man hated to see her used. Hated to see the beautiful qualities that made her so special used against her, against all of them.
“Is everyone ready?” Cam asked.
“All but Daniel Jackson await in the main chamber,” reported Teal’c.
“Alright. I’ll go get him.”
Daniel was sitting on his bed, the tablet propped on his thighs. The light from the screen glowed in his lenses.
Cam held onto the doorframe and suspended himself into the room. “Hey.”
Daniel looked up. “Hey.”
Cam released the doorframe and swung inside like a floppy marionette. “You coming?”
“Nah. Gonna try and...” Daniel pursed his lips together, smiling humourlessly. “Yep.”
“Right. Look, I uhh...I wanted to ask you something.”
Daniel sat up on the bed and lowered his knees. “What is it?”
Cam pressed his fingertips together. “Do you think it’s possible? That Nephthys can turn Vala back into Qetesh even without...Qetesh?”
“Ah,” Daniel said, removing his glasses and hoisting his legs over the bed. He set the tablet aside and folded his glasses beside it. “That, I must admit, I am not entirely qualified to answer. Basically it comes down to what we know of self consciousness and self awareness.”
Cam detected a lecture coming on and suddenly regretted asking. Just a little.
“Philosophers have tried to determine what it is that we call our ‘self’ and how it forms. When a symbiote, Goa’uld or Tok’ra blend with a human host they cannot help but share with each other all that makes them who they are. David Hume proposed that the self is merely made up of our perceptions, what we experience. In that sense, Qetesh is still a complete identity within Vala. It’s a bit like having multiple personalities, only Vala herself never provided Qetesh with consciousness. That was the symbiote.”
Cam rubbed the back of his neck and then clapped. “Let’s pretend I followed half of what you said. What do you think Nephthys was going to do to Vala back there at the dining table?”
“Well, if a Goa’uld’s memories, feelings, thought patterns, everything that formed her identity really does remain in the host even after the symbiote is removed, perhaps Nephthys believes it’s possible to force Vala’s consciousness to draw from the identity of Qetesh rather than the memories of Vala. Kind of like...changing train lines. Initially the train of thought runs on a track through Vala’s collective experiences. If Nephthys could find a way to flip the switch so the lines changed, the train would cross over into the collective experience of Qetesh and run through her identity.”
Cam shut his eyes, struggling to keep up. There was really only one thing he wanted to know. “Has it ever happened before? Has a former host ever reverted to their Goa’uld identity without the influence of the symbiote?”
Daniel didn’t answer. When Cam opened his eyes he saw Vala standing in the doorway and mentally kicked himself.
“Is it possible, Daniel?” Vala asked, tapping her nails together. “Can she do it? Can she...make it so I’m...no longer me?”
Daniel stood and walked over to her. He sighed. “Honestly...I don’t know.”
Vala flinched and backed away anxiously.
“But!” Daniel held up his hands preventatively. The problem was he hadn’t exactly prepared what he was going to say. Vala’s dark ocean eyes were wide open with hope and Cam shifted uncomfortably in the time Daniel desperately searched for something reassuring to say.
“Look at it this way,” he said finally. “Without the influence of the Symbiote’s consciousness, even if Nephthys did somehow...activate Qetesh as the dominant personality, it couldn’t be stable. You are more than just a collection of memories. You are more than just the residual effects of an invading mind.” Daniel held her shoulders. “You are stronger because you are complete. Mind. Body. Soul. Qetesh? She’s just some...leftover scraps.”
Vala sniffed and a smile bloomed fleetingly across her lips. “If she does-”
“She won’t.”
“Daniel. If Nephthys brings out Qetesh in me...Don’t let me hurt anyone.”
“It won’t happen.”
Vala threw down her fists defiantly. “Daniel. Please.”
“Vala...”
“Promise me.”
Daniel lifted his hands and held her cheeks, brushing his thumbs gently beneath her eyes. “I will bring you back. That, I promise.”
The streets bustled with activity, the sandstone city shining under an overhead sun. Children ran around them and between them, laughing and chasing. Daniel was right. These people were still thriving, and they seemed relatively free.
It made Cam uneasy. There was something else going on here. Maybe it was a different story outside the city walls. He would make sure to find out from the rebels.
Once the palace was obscured from sight, Shu spoke to Cam. “We have acquired one of the mining vessels. We are able to take you and your friends to the Camp, but we must leave now.”
“Uh, that might be a problem,” Cam said, as they turned into a narrow market street. “Daniel’s not with us. Also, we don’t know when Nephthys is going to call us in for negotiations.”
“Not until late this evening. I heard her speak with another priest.”
The stall owners shouted their wares, peddling trinkets and curios. Sam gently urged Vala along, keeping her from lingering too long at anything shiny.
“Okay, then I still have one more problem,” Cam said, “No doubt you rebels will have weapons. I’d feel a lot better if we had ours back before we met.”
“I can give you zat’nik’tels onboard the mining vessel. We must leave now. It is scheduled to depart very soon,” Shu said. His sharp gestures compounded the urgency in his voice.
“Alright, alright.” Cam turned to the others. “Guys. Shu says we gotta go meet these rebels now or never.”
“What about Daniel?” Vala asked.
“Hopefully we’ll be back before anyone notices we’re missing. And Nephthys can’t touch him, remember? Well...can’t hurt him anyway.”
“Alright. I guess we have to go,” Sam shrugged.
Cam turned back to Shu and held out his arm. “Lead the way.”
“The Station is this way,” said Shu.
The mining vessel turned out to be a Tel’tak. In spite of what appeared to Cam to be heavy security, they all but waltzed onboard in the middle of a busy shipyard. The ship took them up out of the city, and across endless desert.
Peppered across the sand, in between forests of stone and twisted rock, were decrepit camps. Cam looked out the window in disgust. “This is more what we’re used to,” he said grimly.
“You are starting to get a more complete picture of the trouble our people are in,” Shu said sadly. “Before Nephthys came, our people were prosperous. We used these ships freely. Now they are used to transport naquadah for our ‘god’. The city you have seen...it was once open to us. Under the rule of Nephthys...” Shu stared distantly at the tumbling dunes that rolled beneath them.
“Look,” said Cam, “We’re going to help you. But you gotta understand, we need Nephthys alive.”
Shu sighed and nodded. “There. Our headquarters.”
They approached a large brick and metal factory. It would not have looked out of place on Langara. Sam half expected Jonas Quinn to greet them when they landed. She thought of his perpetually friendly smile and wondered how the kid was doing since they last saw him.
The Tal’tek came to rest on the sandy grounds outside the factory. Fingers twitching by the zats on their belts, SG-1 disembarked from the ship and followed Shu across the grounds. It was when Teal’c pointed out some familiar two-wheeled vehicles that Cam’s blood pressure elevated.
“The people who killed us outside the city. They were riding those,” Sam said. The vehicles were lined up along the outside wall of the factory.
“Hey, Shu. What’s that about? Huh? You neglected to tell us the guys that shot us were your guys,” Cam said, bringing the group to a stop.
Shu turned, nodding. “Yes. I was afraid you would not trust me if I told you. When you first arrived, you looked strange to them. You appeared from nowhere. They assumed you must have been working with Nephthys. Rest assured I have told them you do not.”
“Gonna need a little more than that to reassure me,” Cam said, warily.
“Please,” Shu implored. He rubbed his short dark hair and held his arms open. “I’ve brought you here at great risk. If it will put you at ease I will go in and ask our leader to come out and meet you alone.”
Cam considered his offer. He was sure Teal’c or Sam or Vala could fly the Tal’tek if they needed to leave in a hurry. And four zats against one man was certainly a lot better than entering the hideout of a bunch of guys who riddled them with bullets only yesterday.
“Okay. Go get him. We’ll wait here.”
Shu smiled and bounced enthusiastically. “Great. I’ll go get him!”
The boy hurried off, throwing open the heavy factory doors and propelling himself inside.
“I’m not the only one with a bad feeling, right?” Cam asked the others.
“You kidding? I felt more comfortable at the palace,” Vala said, swinging her zat and sticking a hand on her slanted hip.
With a rusty creak the factory doors swung open again and an unfamiliar man in tightly wound cloths and handmade armour buckled over his chest walked across the sand towards them.
“SG-1. Welcome.”
“You must be the leader of the rebels,” Cam said.
“Runihura. You are Cam. Shu has told me all about you. All of you. You oppose the rule of Nephthys. That makes us allies.”
He wasn’t an overly tall man but he was broad shouldered and gruff, with wild, unkempt hair. Cam looked him over for any weapons he might be concealing.
“We’ve mined enough naquadah to blow up several key locations within the city. The palace can be taken easily in the confusion,” Runihura declared proudly.
“Yeah, about that,” said Cam, “We would appreciate it if when you took the palace, you didn’t kill Nephthys.”
Runihura’s smile faltered. “I don’t understand.
“You’re right that she isn’t a god. There’s another living creature living inside her, controlling her. We want to try and remove that creature,” Cam explained.
“The woman you can see, she’s innocent,” Sam said, “She isn’t the one committing these crimes against your people. She needs to be saved.”
Runihura looked between the two Colonels. “You want to save Nephthys?”
“No! No, no,” Vala said quickly. “Not Nephthys, just the woman she has taken control of.”
Runihura frowned and folded his arms. His eyes narrowed, and thoughtful lines drew across his brow. Cam exchanged an anxious look with Sam. Teal’c tapped the zat hanging from his belt. Finally the man looked up.
“This is a trick.”
Cam’s heart sank. “No. It’s not a trick. We’re willing to help you, we just need to save our friend.”
“Nephthys is your friend?” The rebel leader’s voice nearly shook.
“Look, if you just helped us capture her, we could show you what we mean. We could invite the Tok’ra here to remove the creature from her head,” Sam insisted desperately.
“Tok...ra?” They were losing him. The man was hissing angrily. Cam felt himself holding the zat at his belt.
“Yep. We’re dead. Again,” Vala muttered.
“Nephthys must die,” Runihura growled.
“No!” Cam said, wincing when Runihura twitched at his outburst. “Listen. Please, listen.”
The rebel leader faced him, scathingly, but patiently. Cam’s heart was thunder in his chest. There was no doubt that this was the last argument he would be permitted to make for Janet’s life. Everything hung on the balance of his next words.
“The woman you think is Nephthys is just an ordinary human being, like you and me. There is a small, snake-like creature that has burrowed its way into her head through the back of the neck. It’s controlling her. That creature is Nephthys. We will help you destroy her but you have to let us remove her from our friend.”
Runihura’s eyes were dark slits on his windburnt face, like black coal buried in the sand. “I believe you.”
Cam breathed a sigh of relief.
“But it will be hard for me to convince all of my people that such a creature is responsible for all their suffering. They will not believe that this friend of yours is not Nephthys.” Runihura held up his hand.
Cam’s heart stopped. Rising like pale spikes on top of the factory were men, holding weapons. He was foolish to think they’d ever had any advantage.
“A victory without proof of her demise will mean nothing,” Runihura said, as more men in rags and improvised armour came out from the factory. Shu was among them, evading his gaze. “If your ultimate goal is to prevent us from killing Nephthys then I am glad you are assembled here. Lock them up. And separate them. I don’t want them able to work together to conceive any escape before we can execute our plan.”
Cam felt the zat taken from him. He expected to feel the shock of the weapon sizzle over his body, but instead his wrists were cuffed behind him.
“No. Please. Don’t do this,” Sam begged, as they were forced towards the factory. “Please! You’re killing an innocent woman! Please!”
“Runihura. There was another with them, but he stayed behind at the palace,” Shu said to the leader.
“He will not matter.”
“Cam has a communication device in his pouch,” Shu added. Cam rolled his head backwards in disappointment, cursing silently as the pouch was whipped open and the radio removed.
Sam suddenly stamped her boot on her captor’s knee. The leg snapped inwards with a sickening crunch. The rebel fell, shrieking continuously in pain as Sam broke free.
“Sam! No!” Cam cried.
He went cold, waiting for the crack of gunfire from the factory rooftop. To his relief Sam was easily apprehended and tugged away kicking, crying, her frantic, mournful pleas falling on uncaring deaf ears. Cam didn’t hear her stop until the small cell door closed on him and he was alone to regret everything that had happened.
He’d really screwed this up. Maybe it would have been better to tell Nephthys about the plan against her. At least then Janet Fraiser wouldn’t be in danger.